In the past couple of years e-commerce has taken over the retail scene, hundreds of new online stores pop up every year. The shift of customers from physical stores to online shopping is in fact so significant that many existing businesses have opened online outlets as well. If you are looking to introduce a new product into the market or simply wanting to shift to the online retail business the only thing you need to do is set up an online store on a reliable platform.
While setting up an online store you initially choose whether you want to ‘self-host’ your store or set up a ‘hosted’ store using an e-commerce website. Self-hosting is when you set up the entire website yourself (including software, design, and operating system), it is a tedious process and requires a high level of expertise. For the common internet user, a ‘hosted’ site is the best and most convenient option. With a hosted e-commerce site you hire a service provider to take care of the technical aspects of your e-commerce site. You do have full ownership of your store and can choose everything from the simplest details like themes to complex matters.
There are numerous e-commerce services available on the internet. Options include both paid and unpaid services; some popular examples are WooCommerce, Volusion, Shopify. Choosing the right e-commerce platform is the most important step in setting up your online store. Our top pick from the list is Shopify. Home to over 500,000 online stores Shopify has helped countless entrepreneurs turn their retail businesses to success stories. Shopify gurus have picked five reasons you should choose Shopify as your e-commerce platform.
Setting up is Easy
While setting up an online store you initially choose whether you want to ‘self-host’ your store or set up a ‘hosted’ store using an e-commerce website. Self-hosting is when you set up the entire website yourself (including software, design, and operating system), it is a tedious process and requires a high level of expertise. For the common internet user, a ‘hosted’ site is the best and most convenient option. With a hosted e-commerce site you hire a service provider to take care of the technical aspects of your e-commerce site. You do have full ownership of your store and can choose everything from the simplest details like themes to complex matters. As Shopify provides hosting, it takes care of technical aspects of your site. Setting up the store is easy and less time-consuming, another reason it is highly ranked is that they have an extensive database to help customers and solve their queries.
Great design
Shopify is a highly professional platform, it helps store owners design user-friendly websites that work efficiently. Why is a good design necessary you ask, well the popular view that a good product will automatically attract customers is at best a hopeful statement. When selling products online it is important that you have a functional website that is not only convenient to use but also visually appealing. Shopify equips you with all of the necessary tools to create a decent store. It has over a hundred customizable themes developed by professional web-designers that you can choose from.
Big Apps marketplace
Perhaps the most impressive feature of Shopify is that it has its very own app store. The Shopify app store contains countless paid and free apps that users can purchase to add different features to their store. These apps help you modify your store according to your needs. A great example is language and translation apps, they help you expand your market to other countries. Plugin apps enhance the productivity of your Shopify store by managing stuff like marketing, inventory, shipping and customer service. A huge advantage of the app store is that all of the plugin apps are developed by Shopify and hence are highly compatible with the platform. You will not have to worry about issues like the site breaking down.
Payment Made Easy
Shopify offers a wide variety of payment methods like PayPal, bank transfers, cash on delivery, UPI and credit/debit cards. It also has numerous payment gateways like PaymentSense, PayPal, Realex, Worldpay and Sage Pay. In addition to that Shopify also has their own payment platform which helps users manage orders and payments directly at low rates.
No restrictions and Smartphone friendly
With Shopify, there are no restrictions as to how many products you can offer on your store or how much traffic can visit it. You will not face difficulties when your business starts growing as the platform supports entrepreneurs and helps create the ideal e-commerce space for them. The platform is also highly responsive which means it can easily be used and managed from your smartphone. No matter where you are your retail store is only a few clicks away. Everything including order management to contacting staff.
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